关键词:
Agriculture/economics
Animals
Carbon
Carbon Dioxide
Climate
Conservation of Natural Resources/economics
Costs and Cost Analysis
Crops, Agricultural/economics
Fertilizers
Forestry/economics
Greenhouse Effect
Models, Theoretical
Soil
Trees
United States
摘要:
The Department of Energy estimated CO_2 emissions for the United States toequal 1562 million metric tons of carbon equivalents (MMTCE) in 2000, which is 305 MMTCE more thanin 1990. With an estimated average annual emission increase of 1.5 percent per year, the KyotoProtocol would require the United States to reduce CO_2 by about 524 MMTCE in 2008, 549 MMTCE in2009, 578 MMTCE in 2010, 608 MMTCE in 2011, and 635 MMTCE in 2012. Agricultural and forestry (AF)activities may mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through (i) direct emission reductions, (ii)terrestrial carbon sink expansions, and (iii) production of replacements for emission-intensiveproducts (1). Uncertainty and controversy exist about AF's practical mitigation potential, partlybecause aggregate studies have been lacking (1). The heterogeneity and management interdependenciesin AF make it difficult to assess aggregate economic mitigation potential. Soil properties, climateconditions, and land management history are heterogeneous, and collectively, they result in uniqueGHG emissions mitigation potential for each field. For example, U.S. carbon concentrations inmineral soil surface layers range from less than 1 percent organic carbon for sandy soils in warm,dry climates to more than 4 percent for clay soils in cold, wet climates. Peat soils contain as muchas 50 percent organic carbon. Carbon sequestration potential depends on carbon lost during previouscultivation. Highly degraded soils with low carbon-holding capacity may have greater sequestrationpotential than fairly undisturbed soils with high capacity.